Hyde went out of the Unibond Cheshire Senior Cup at Ewen Fields on Monday in a dramatic penalty shoot-out after the sides had failed to find the net after 120 minutes of football.

However how the Tigers had failed to score left the sparse crowd bewildered. Time after time Hyde carved open the Witton defence only to squander the chance. Neil Tolson was the chief culprit, who on another night could easily have had a double hat-trick whilst Matty McNeil had one off the line as well as striking a post. Hyde had at least 15 corners but failed to capitalise despite Witton losing David Ness after only 3 minutes. The game should have been over within half an hour, but slowly Witton clawed their way back into the game and Mark Westhead had to be at his best in the later stages to keep them at bay.

Hyde can point to the fact they still had five players sidelined through injury and lost Gerry Harrison and Lincoln Adams during the game, as well as new signings Mark Flynn and Carlos Meakin being ineligible, but that is no excuse, as on the night they should have won at a canter against a young Albion side.

So it came to penalties and Jamie Milligan blasted his first miles over the bar, Phil Salt scored with his, but then Chris Lynch and Danny Caldecott both had theirs saved. Witton converted their first three and it was all over and Hyde were sensationally out. The choice of penalty takers seemed strange, but the result always looked inevitable after the chances Hyde had missed during normal time